The Abyss (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Marguerite Yourcenar
- First Published: 1968
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Historical realism
- Time of Work: 1510-1569
- Setting: Europe
- Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction, Biographical fiction
- Subjects: Self-discovery, Philosophy or philosophers, Sex or sexuality, Suicide, Europe or Europeans, Capital punishment, Trials, Truth, Cults, Sixteenth century, Catholics or Catholic Church, Alchemy, Inquisition, Catholic, Reformation
- Locales: Europe, Flanders
Characters Discussed
Zeno (zeh-NOH), an alchemist, physician, and philosopher. At the beginning of the novel, Zeno is a wildly attractive twenty-year-old student of theology, tall and slim, pale, and haggard, with fiery eyes. Being illegitimate, he feels the hypocrisy of social morals; furthermore, he acquires early a thirst for truth, which leads him to travel and meet all the important scientists and philosophers in his quest for knowledge and in his search for himself. A true skeptic, this Humanist challenges established orthodoxy. He is passionately interested in all human...
[The entire page is 1436 words long]
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